Someone Has Hacked The Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Over Wi-Fi

8 years, 4 months ago - 8 June 2016, Carbuzz

First it was a Jeep Cherokee and now it’s a 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in that’s been hacked. Fortunately, neither of these hacks were done by criminally-motivated hackers, but this is still very much a warning.

British cybersecurity company Pen Test Partners is claiming that it hacked the Outlander’s Wi-Fi access and managed to do the following: turn on the headlights and climate control, disable the alarm system, and alter the battery charge timing. So how did this company realize the Outlander Plug-in was vulnerable to hacking?

The mobile application that allows owners to "talk" to the vehicle through their phones. Apparently, it only took a few days for experts to examine the code, find its vulnerabilities, and have at it.

Obviously the bit of mischief Pen Test Partners did here was nothing catastrophic (although draining the battery is fairly serious). But what will happen once more and more cars come with some form of autonomous driving? It’s really too damn scary to even think about.